Toppa Top 10: Ten Caribbean Jazz Greats

Words by Natalie Weiner

Caribbean rhythms have had a huge impact on the world of international pop music—but less commonly talked about is the impact they’ve had on jazz. From the initial “Spanish tinge” of New Orleans jazz to now-ubiquitous calypso jazz standards, the sounds of the West Indies have helped shape developments in the jazz world for years. Yet, the work of Caribbean jazz musicians themselves is chronically underappreciated, especially because so many of them worked primarily outside of the United States. Here, we’ve picked some of the greats from all around the West Indies, whose contributions range from experimental free jazz to classic swing.

Start the list here, and look out for upcoming pieces on the history of Caribbean jazz in New York, and on the contemporary Caribbean jazz scene.

10. Douglas Ewart

Douglas Ewart is one of those unusual artists who has managed to be on the front lines of the avant-garde almost from the start. Growing up in Kingston, he recalls going to hear Count Ossie’s groundations, which inspired him to make drums of his own—a practice he continues today. After moving to Chicago in 1963, he became involved in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, at that time a nascent group organized to promote experimental black music. Ewart studied composition and performance there with Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell, and began performing with musicians like Henry Threadgill, George Lewis, and Anthony Braxton. He eventually served as the president of the AACM, and still remains an important leader within the group.

Ewart’s work as an artist extends to the instruments he plays, many of which he makes himself and have sculptural as well as musical meaning. Though his recordings are not widely available (mostly because, in his words, he wants “total control over all aspects of the product“), he teaches and performs his compositions around the world—here he is with Amiri Baraka:

9. Cedric IM Brooks

Calling Brooks a jazz musician is something of an oversimplification–his music “ties together Sun Ra, Jamaican producer Sir Coxsone Dodd, [and] Fela Kuti,” as Pitchfork put it. An alum of Kingston’s famed Alpha Boys School, Brooks stayed in the city after graduating, first as a member of the Military Band, and then with the Granville Williams Orchestra alongside Ernest Ranglin, Tommy McCook, and Roland Alphonso.

Already firmly entrenched in Jamaican musical traditions, his studies at Philadelphia’s Combs College of Music helped foster his interest in jazz. In Philadelphia Brooks met Sun Ra and Sonny Rollins, both of whom influenced his sound and his philosophy. Brooks became heavily involved in reggae and Rastafarian music upon his return to the island in 1970, recording instrumentals at Studio One with Coxsone Dodd and eventually joining forces with Count Ossie for the 1973 album Grounation. With albums like From Mento To Reggae To Third World Music and The Light Of Saba, Brooks, who passed away last year at 70, gave Jamaican jazz and fusion its own distinct sound, pulling from all the island’s different cultural influences. He melded free jazz and traditional Jamaican music, bringing island jazz back to its spiritual core. Here he is live in Brooklyn below:

8. Harry Beckett

Born in Barbados in 1935, Beckett began playing the trumpet as a part of the local Salvation Army band. He moved to London at 19 to pursue music, playing with Jamaican trumpeter Leslie “Jiver” Hutchinson. Beckett quickly became known in the London scene for his one-of-a-kind tone, described by his fans as “a kind of chastened happiness”—lyrical and light, without losing any intensity. He remained a sideman for the majority of his career, spending a decade in British bassist Graham Collier’s band before becoming a force in just about every free jazz group in London during the 70’s and 80’s. He even played with Charles Mingus on the soundtrack for the 1963 film All Night Long. His last album, The Modern Sound of Harry Beckett, showcased the reggae and dub influences that had been a part of many of his earlier compositions, with contributions from reggae vocalist Junior Delgado and producer Adrian Sherwood—listen below:

7. Dizzy Reece

“There’s a great trumpeter over in England: a guy who’s got soul and originality and, above all, who’s not afraid to blow with fire.” So said none other than Miles Davis about Jamaican trumpeter Dizzy Reece. Also trained at the Alpha Boys School, Reece left JA for England at 16 and after making a name for himself in London and Paris, was invited to record an album, called Blues in Trinity, for Blue Note. By 1958, Reece had generated enough hype to prompt a move to the capital of jazz—New York. There Reece recorded a second album for Blue Note at Rudy Van Gelder’s legendary New Jersey studios, featuring all-star personnel Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly (a Jamaican by way of Brooklyn), Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor (Jamaican by way of Harlem). Though Star Bright didn’t bring him jazz celebrity, he continued to record with some of the era’s biggest names, including Bobby Timmons, Dexter Gordon, and Ron Carter.

Now considered one of his era’s great unsung talents, Reece still resides and performs in New York.

6. Ralph MacDonald

You already know Ralph MacDonald, even if you don’t realize it—as the New York Times put it, he’s “the ghost behind the million-selling albums.” Artists from David Bowie to Bonnie Raitt to Amy Winehouse have recordings featuring the Trini-American’s masterful percussion skills. He penned 70’s classics “Where Is The Love” (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway) and “Just The Two Of Us” (Bill Withers), and has a slew of successful solo albums to his name. He even played in Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. But he also played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Paul Desmond, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, and Max Roach. Particularly as different fusion styles became popular in the 70’s and 80’s, jazz musicians sought to add percussion beyond the basic drum kit—and MacDonald was the player of choice.

Born in Harlem to calypsonian Macbeth the Great (aka Patrick MacDonald), MacDonald began his career as Harry Belafonte’s panman—after a decade with Belafonte, he struck out on his own, becoming a sought-after studio musician. Some of his most interesting jazz work can be found on Joe Henderson’s “In Pursuit of Blackness,” Ron Carter’s “Blues Farm,” and Milt Jackson’s “Sunflower”—all funky 70’s records that showcase MacDonald’s versatility. Here’s his classic “Calypso Breakdown”:

5. Wilton Gaynair

Gaynair, another Alpha Boys School alum, began his career in the 1950s playing tenor saxophone with Redver Cook, “the Count Basie of Jamaica.” Though he had the opportunity to back international acts like George Shearing and Carmen McRae in Kingston, eventually Gaynair left for England to try his luck on the international stage. By the time of his arrival in 1955, there was already a strong network of Caribbean musicians in London, and he was able to secure gigs through friends (and Alpha Boys School classmates) like Dizzy Reece.

Though Gaynair, who eventually moved to Germany, would go on to play alongside artists like Gil Evans and Freddie Hubbard, his own releases showcase his bop mastery and fiery licks. He pursued formal studies in composition in Europe, and produced a number of original pieces for his records Blue Bogey and Africa Calling (with Shake Keane), both long-forgotten hard bop classics that showcase his distinctive sound. Gaynair even shouts out the West Indies with songs like “Kingston By Pass” and “Ogetnom” (Montego backwards). See him performing live in Germany below:

4. Joe Harriott

Joe Harriott, born in Kingston in 1928, began studying alto saxophone alongside Wilton Gaynair and Harold McNair at the city’s Alpha Boys School. Decamping to London in 1951, he became a popular sideman thanks to his Parker-esque flair for bebop, appearing with artists like George Chisholm and the Modern Jazz Quartet. His most seminal work, though, came with the creation of his own quintet in 1958, featuring fellow Jamaicans Shake Keane on trumpet and Coleridge Goode on bass. Through Harriott’s compositions, the quintet began experimenting with free jazz at the same moment musicians stateside were as well. Their first foray into “the New Thing” came with 1960’s Free Form, released just one year after Ornette Coleman’s seminal The Shape of Jazz to Come.

Unlike Coleman, Harriott incorporated calypso into his interpretation of the avant-garde, creating a distinctive sound that earned Abstract, his second free jazz outing, England’s first five-star review from jazz bible Downbeat. The quintet performed and recorded together until Keane’s move to Germany in 1965. Harriott continued to pursue a more “out” sound, including notable fusion projects with East Indian musicians John Mayer (no, not that John Mayer) and Amancio D’Silva. Though somewhat overlooked during his lifetime, Harriott’s contributions to jazz’s avant-garde (and a recently published biography) have prompted the re-release of many of his classic recordings—listen to “Calypso,” off of Free Form, below:

3. Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and The West Indian Orchestra

Johnson, well-known as one of England’s first black bandleaders, was actually just one player in a vibrant community of West Indian musicians bringing swing and “hot” jazz to London in the 1930s. Born in 1914 in what is now known as Guyana, Kendrick Reginald Huymans was sent to school in the U.K. at 15. Enamored with American dance, he began studying with American choreographer Buddy Bradley. A talented enough dancer to earn the nickname “Snakehips,” he began dancing professionally in England and later U.S.

His greatest success, came in 1937 when he started his own (nearly) all-West Indian swing band: Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and His Rhythm Swingers, later known as The West Indian Orchestra. Jamaican trumpeter Leslie Thompson did most of the arrangements for the band, which included trumpeter Dave Wilkins from Barbados; clarinetist Carl Barriteau, saxophonist Dave ‘Baba’ Williams, and trumpeter Wally Bowen from Trinidad; and trumpeter Leslie “Jiver” Hutchinson, saxophonist Bertie King, and pianist Yorke De Souza from Jamaica. Their hold of the London jazz scene was cut short, however, by none other than a German bomb — in 1941, the West End’s posh Cafe de Paris was hit during a performance by the group, instantly killing Johnson and Williams. By then, though, the group had already affirmed the importance of West Indian musicians to the London jazz scene. Listen to some of the band’s biggest hits below:

2. Ernest Ranglin

It’s difficult to overstate Ernest Ranglin’s importance to Jamaican music. Reggae’s most influential guitarist, he began his musical career with the island’s swing-era big bands, playing mento, calypso, and jazz. His virtuosic playing and fluid arrangements brought him gigs of all stripes—the Dr. No soundtrack, Island Records’ first release, and an abundance of session work at studios like Federal and Studio One (including one of the Wailers’ early hits, “It Hurts to Be Alone”). Ranglin is widely credited with adding the shuffle that turned New Orleans R&B into ska, the basis for all Jamaican pop music to follow—and he also produced the genre’s first international hit.

Somehow, he found time to record numerous jazz albums drawing on the melodic sound of his primary influences, Charlie Christian and Les Paul. Like his friend and colleague Monty Alexander, Ranglin continued to perform and tour with reggae artists like Jimmy Cliff while releasing more traditional jazz records, often with Alexander by his side. At 82 (!) he’s still touring and performing around the world—here he is participating in NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, and below, watch a peak Jamaican jam session with Ranglin, Alexander, and Sly & Robbie.

1. Monty Alexander

One of Jamaica’s most successful jazz musicians, Monty Alexander can’t be labeled as merely a jazzman. His unique pop, calypso, and reggae inspired sound has long defied the traditional categories of bop and swing (though he plays the standards with the best of them)—and a half-century of music-making later, Alexander is still bringing island sounds to jazz clubs around the world. (Just last week, he presented a performance entitled “Jazz around the West Indies” at Dizzy’s in Lincoln Center).

The self-taught pianist got his start playing ska and reggae in Kingston (here’s his ska version of jazz standard “Summertime,” complete with melodica), and after moving to the US in the early 1960s, his virtuosic playing led him to gigs with Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, and Frank Sinatra. Though his jazz pedigree is impressive, with collaborators including Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, and Bobby McFerrin, it’s Alexander’s enthusiasm for music of all genres that’s brought him such a wide audience. He is equally praised for his covers of Al Green and King Tubby, and has no qualms about riffing on “The Entertainer” or even the theme from Shaft. Together with his longtime collaborator (and teacher) Ernest Ranglin, the pianist has ensured that Jamaican music remains a vital part of the international jazz scene. Watch below as the duo, along with Chronixx, talk about what it means to make truly Jamaican music after their joint performance at NY’s legendary Blue Note in January:

+1: Othello Molineaux

One of the jazz’s most important panmen, Molineaux was born in Port of Spain to a musical family, starting his own steelpan ensemble before he left high school. Since then, he’s made his mark on the fusion scene, playing with Jaco Pastorius, Ahmad Jamal, and Monty Alexander, among others. Listen to his take on jazz classic “Giant Steps” below: